PORT HUENEME : Chamber May Not Need $15,000 Bailout

The Port Hueneme Chamber of Commerce should be able to weather financial difficulties through the year’s end without a $15,000 bailout from the City Council, the chamber’s executive director said this week.

In place of the bailout sought by the chamber, the council voted last month to extend a $7,500 line of credit. Chamber officials will approach the Oxnard Harbor District board, which runs the Port of Hueneme, for an equivalent loan offering at a meeting Monday.

Executive Director Pat Zanuzoski said the chamber has cut this year’s $51,600 budget by delaying the hiring of a receptionist and the repair of office equipment. She said the council’s financial support has encouraged greater commitment among board members to membership drives and fund-raising events.

“The money that’s been offered us is just fine,” Zanuzoski said. “The board is very pleased with the arrangement because it still is more than we’re receiving right now.”

The chamber faced a budget shortfall caused by the recession, poor fund raising and a drop from 350 to 250 members since December, President Sue Walea told the council last month.

Chamber officials had sought a grant similar to the $12,000 to $19,000 extended to chambers in Moorpark, Camarillo and Thousand Oaks for performing the function of convention and visitors bureaus. The Port Hueneme chamber gets free office space in the city’s museum.